Words
and statements of some prominent figures of MDP gives the feeling and
impression that they have broken the bond of trust that has to be maintained in
religious matters whose consequences seems to be beyond emotional grasp. For
some of us, we are being betrayed to our dedication made in the last
presidential election which gave us the liberty and freedom of choice. But I
don’t regret the choice I made for a change since it was the best i could do at
that time. As said in the statement, “While we are free to choose our
actions, we are not free to choose the consequences of our actions” (Stephen R.
Covey), we don’t know how far things would have gone if we elected Maumoon
instead of Nasheed. For me his era is not to be acknowledged every time Nasheed
or his government officials goes out of bounds.
For
some, the prevailing challenge has been the absence of a leader who can be
trusted to take us to the heights we desire, not saying ‘NO’ to MDP. May be
this is how the country was purposely shaped by the previous regime so that it
will always be one man or one family holding the ultimate power. This is
evident from the speech given by the Vice President Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan
Manik on November 21, 2011 at the reception hosted by the Australian High commissioner
to congratulate the 2012 AusAID recipients of the Maldives and to honour
Maldivian AusAID alumni. It included statistics that evinced that the young
generation of this country was devastated.
A
part of the speech went as follows. “......These 1100 students are in
multiple-year degree programmes including bachelors and masters level courses.
Therefore, we estimate that about 300 students are entering degree courses in
national institutions. Just imagine, you have 24000 student completing … secondary
and only 300 students are entering national degree courses. It is like 1.25%.
Although we are a middle income country our higher education enrollment ratio
is about the same as that for countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. Compare this
figure to other relevant social sector statistics. While 300 students start
degree programmes, there are 3000 students waiting for drug rehabilitation. 300
students enter university and 300 teenagers got pregnant last year. About 600 I
assume go to prison. I suppose the choice is very clear- we can build more
schools or more prisons.......” Alas, this show how creamy is the cream of
our nation at the end of the so called ‘golden age’. I can’t believe that a
nation can be deteriorated this much within 3 years. How on earth are we going
to trust them back?
I
feel it is insane to believe that 30 years is not enough for a leader to
rule/run a country. If a leader still seeks to gain power or remain in power
after so much time, it definitely is not patriotism that pursues him.
Father
of modern Singapore - Lee Kuan Yew retired after about 30 years of service as a
prime minister which represents his admission that 30 years is enough for a
leader to mould and develop a country. He was contented and satisfied for
his contribution to Singapore which most people accept and admire. Mahathir bin Mohamad was the prime minister of Malaysia
for 22 years after which he retired. He brought tremendous developments to his
country before he stepped down in 2003 such as the development of Putrajaya
within 3-4 years. But Maumoon chose to end up like a …………….. (Fill up as you
desire).
Despite the extravagance policies and unfavourable decisions
on religious matters, I wonder if we can trust PPM or DRP over MDP. Although
the situation is seen as a political dilemma, according to some, it is likely
that MDP may lose the coming election if “SOME OF ITS PROMINENT FIGURES” are
not brought down to their size soon.